“Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much” (Luke 16:10). Thanksgiving Day is dedicated to honoring God for the blessings we have in common. Many of these are obvious because they are big in our lives. We make them bigger in order to celebrate the day. A savory feast, great desserts, and a nice nap in a warm house remind us to appreciate our daily bread even when it’s a little more bland.

But it is really the accumulated effect of little things that make our lives rich and full. Abundance is rarely delivered in one big package. God tends to give it to us a piece at a time. Great blessings materialize as we are faithful with lesser ones. We end up with so much by sweating the small stuff and making the best use of very little.

And some blessings are inconspicuous because of their absence. Thank God if we had little illness this year or fewer unexpected repairs. Thank God if tension at work was way down and we had less inner turmoil. Thank God we all got to drive more because we paid less for gas. 

As we join hands around the table to thank God for things that are hard to miss, let’s also be grateful for the very little things we have been given that are easy to overlook.